Tags: Recipe

For those of you who are German or Austrian, Hugo might have been your go-to drink for the last 5 years anyway. However, after (unsuccessfully) trying to order this drink in several other places in the world, I gave up.

Until one of my friends here in Norway, who is Austrian, organised a Hugo night last weekend and we were glad that the other guests from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Croatia, France and England enjoyed this drink just as much as we did.

All you need for a Hugo are these ingredients in a white wine glass:

– 2 cl elderflower syrup
– 150 ml Prosecco / sparkling wine
– fresh mint leaves
(If you like you can top it of with some sparkling water)

It’s absolutely delicious and really refreshing on sunny days outside.

Yesterday I had the most delicious dinner. Bacalao means cod in Spanish, but is also the name of a dish brought over by the Spanish and Portuguese many years ago to Norway. It is quite common to find this rich, spicy mediterranean dish in Arctic Norway, where you find the best dried cod in the world. It was only recently that I had it for the first time and I absolutely love it. It’s a tomato based fish stew made with dried cod.

All ingredients in the pan before cooking

Ingredients for 2 people:

300 g dried cod fish (soaked up in a bowl full of water for one night)

1/4 to 1/2 a chilli

1 medium sized onion

3 tbs tomato puree

1 can of chopped tomatoes

100 g halved cherry tomatoes

half a glass of green olives

2 big potatoes, sliced

fresh basil

parsley

oregano

3 cloves of garlic

salt

pepper

The dried cod (klipp fisk) should be cut into large chunks and placed in a large bowl of fresh water for 24 hours prior to cooking, changing the water a few times during this process.

Mix together the garlic, chery tomatoes, canned tomatoes, chilli, oregano, basil, parsley, olives, tomato puree in a large, heavy based pan. Add half a cup of water and bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with pepper only (as the fish will bring plenty salt). Reduce to a low heat and then layer on the fish, onions (1 cm thick slices) and potatoes (1 cm thick slices). These should be sitting in 3 layers on top of the tomato base. Let it simmer in the covered pan for about an hour, giving the pan a gentle shake every now and then to prevent sticking and allow the dish to be kept in layers. The dish is ready when the potatoes are soft.

You can top the dish with some basil leaves and serve on a soup plate.

The best thing about the Norwegian summer is that the days are so long. After being on the beach morning to evening, it is still so light outside that no one feels like heading back home. A common thing to do here are barbecues, be it in public places or at home. We chose home tonight and tried out a new recipe.

Salmon on the grill

Who says Barbecues have to be nothing more than fatty meat? Especially when you live right by the sea and can have fresh fish at all times. We grilled a big piece of salmon filet on a flat piece of cedar wood. It gives the fish the best taste you can imagine without adding any butter or oil.

This is what you need:

Salmon filet

cedar wood (available in any store that has grill eqipment)

lemon

salt

pepper

Put the salmon on a big piece of cedar wood that has been soaked in salted water for at least an hour. Cut the lemon into slices and place them on the salmon so that the whole fish is covered. Add salt and pepper. Put the fish and the cedar wood on the barbecue and grill it for about 15 minutes.

But not only did we have a delicious dinner, we also had the best sea view